Killed my paph sanderianum seedling

It was potted into opaque plastic pot with bark. I am not good with bark for anything, just can't say when this stupid thing needs to be watered. It seems that first I rotted some roots and then dried out all the rest.

Now I have a big urge to move St.Swithin and Lady Isabel out of bark and the only thing that stops me - they are in clear pots, so I water when there is no condensation on the pot walls.
Do you have any other hints on how to water paphs in the clear plastic pots with bark. Their roots are always brown, the skewer seems to be always moist

[CTB]

I water mine twice a week they are outdoors under plexiglass.A good mix I have found is small bark perlite, charcoal,coconut husks and cut up spag moss sprinkled in. I use black plastic pots as small as I can get the roots to fit in. Peanuts at the bottom and under plant base for support. If you really think you have killed it give it one more chance, put some wet spag moss in a Baggie, remove plant from soil and place in spag. Set aside keep moist maybe it will grow new roots for you. Good luck. I don.t think only bark works very well.

[billc]

That's too bad about your sandie seedling, I feel your pain.
Are you leaving the skewer in all the time? I find that putting it in about 1/2 hour before I water gives a better indication of the moisture. If the skewer is there all the time it seems to always be damp.
Try putting some larger charcoal pieces in your mix, that will create some air pockets which promotes drying.

Bill

Thank you Carol and Bill.
Sandie hit the garbage bin yesterday.
My humidity is 60 -70%
temps through winter around 20 C with sun pushing it up to 23-25 on bright days.
temps now climbed up to 24-25 C and we usually keep it there with a/c through the summer.
Here is what St Swithin and Lady Isabel are potted in - bark, charcoal and perlite:


See that condensation in the pot? I usually water when it desappears some times it takes a bit over a week. Am I underwatering?



Thanks a lot.

[Lagoon]

Most paphs don't like to dry out completely before the next watering. So light moisture levels are fine.
I have to say I've not had too much success with just bark alone. I've always coupled it with another media. With bark I just couldn't find a happy medium, either to dry or to wet and they just rotted down.

I grew paphs and phrags in peatmoss and large perlite for many years. Now, I still use some but more of sphag bark & perlite combo now. So, this works for me.

Some paphs are easier to grow then others, I find multies more difficult.
Its all a learning process

Originally Posted by Lagoon

With bark I just couldn't find a happy medium, either to dry or to wet and they just rotted down.

That's exactly my experience with bark. I had good results with paphs in chc(not multies though), but then read all about it collecting salts and started to move paphs to bark. Probably a big mistake unless I will learn how to water it.

[silken]

Sorry for the loss of your Paph. I think its happened to many of us, so don't feel too bad. I use the fine bark with some sphag for most of my Paphs. Not that I'm an expert as I haven't had many bloom yet. Often seedlings of a number of orchid genus do better in sphag if they are real small. Then move into something else as they get larger.

[Susie11]

I grow all of my seven paphs in sphag with some bark, charcoal and perlite mixed in. They do great now. Before they were potted in the bark, perlite and charcoal mix but they would be bone dry at the top and soggy at the base so I potted them into 70% sphag with bark mix in instead. Since then they have put out many new growths and I think -fingers crossed- that I have my first bud sheaf develping in one of them.

[CTB]

The mix looks too tight to me I would add something chunkier like charcoal or coco husks.

[Leafmite]

This is rather unorthadox but I have my paphs planted in net pots and lava rock with aircone pots in the middle. I water daily. I have had my first since Nov, the other since January, and just recieved the third. They all seem to be doing well. The first is about to bloom, the second is getting a new growth, and the third is a blooming-sized seedling and still looks good. I was a little scared to plant them in lava rock but I knew that I'd never get the watering right for a different media. Hope this helps.